"design features electrically-operated retractable undercarriage, with differential braking to the main wheels, and landing flaps. The later Spitfire MK26 uses the MK25 wings with the fuselage increased to 80% scale to provide room for a passenger seat in tandem behind the pilot. The Mk26B has a 90% scale fuselage. The Spitfire kit has the same power-to-weight ratio as the original. The aircraft was reviewed by the Australian Ultralight Federation in 2001. It was approved as meeting Australian rules for kit-built aircraft. Supermarine began promoting the kit plane to the US market in 2004. The aircraft has been approved by the"
"As it turned out, the specialised high-output engines required by the RAF were made by Armstrong Siddeley, Bristol Aeroplane, Napier and Rolls-Royce, all of which employed a high number of sub-contractors. Despite their new factories, protestations by Wolseley Aero Engines (Nuffield) and Alvis were ignored. Their products were not required. Engines were specified by the aircraft's designers. Nuffield did participate after Wood's appointment, providing the Castle Bromwich factory, but after two years, management was so poor that not one Spitfire had been produced there. Castle Bromwich was withdrawn from Nuffield and placed under the wing of Vickers. The plan had"
"Supermarine Spiteful The Supermarine Spiteful was a British Rolls-Royce Griffon-engined fighter aircraft designed by Supermarine to Air Ministry specification F.1/43 during the Second World War as a successor to the Spitfire. It featured an entirely new wing design, intended to improve its critical mach number and allow safe operations at higher speeds. The new design also allowed the landing gear to be re-arranged to a modern inward-retracting design. Other changes included a larger vertical tail to improve the somewhat marginal stability of Spitfires with the Griffon engine, and changes to the mounting of the engine to tilt it down slightly"
"Spitfire aircraft, which continued throughout World War II. Aircraft manufacturing at the plant continued until 1977, when it was sold to Jaguar for car production. The factory remains in use four decades later. Around the same time that the Castle Bromwich Assembly was built, the government built another shadow factory at Solihull, which produced aircraft for the war effort. After the end of the war, the plant was taken over by Rover cars, who relocated from their Lode Lane plant in Coventry. The Land Rover, Britain's first four-wheel drive off-road vehicle, was first produced at the Solihull factory in 1948."
"It was not just the name that he gave to the Spitfire; with Arthur Sidgreaves he had decided to start the project that led to the Spitfire, known initially as the Supermarine Type 300. The Air Ministry placed a contract for the aircraft on 1 December 1934 for £10,000. On 3 June 1936, Supermarine received an order for 310 Spitfires for £1.25m. The Spitfire name was confirmed by the Air Ministry on 10 June 1936. The first production Spitfire ""K9787"" flew on 15 May 1938 from Eastleigh. McLean Married Evelyn Noel Girard in India in 1908, they had two daughters."
"trace its origins to the first Saxon settlements of the 7th century. The Spitfire was developed and initially manufactured in the suburb of Woolston. Its designer, Reginald Mitchell, grew up in Stoke-on-Trent, then had a house in Russell Place in Highfield suburb near the university (now identified by a memorial plaque). The plane was a direct descendant of experimental aircraft built by Supermarine that competed in the Schneider Trophy in the 1930s. Supermarine was taken over by Vickers in 1928. Mitchell's short life is documented in the film ""The First of the Few"". There were many aircraft companies based around"
"the Spitfire, Lord Nuffield offered to build the massive Castle Bromwich Shadow Factory near Birmingham. Work began on its construction on 12 July 1938. However continual problems beset the factory and despite it having been planned that it would be producing 60 aircraft per week by April 1940 it was not until June 1940 (well into the Battle of Britain) that the problems were resolved by new management, with the first 10 Spitfires being delivered that month. Thereafter production increased to reach a maximum rate of 320 aircraft per month. By the end of the war it had produced a"
"be overcome, and a further order was placed for 200 Spitfires on 24 March 1938. The two orders covered the K, L, and N prefix serial numbers. In mid-1938, the first production Spitfire rolled off the assembly line and was flown by Jeffrey Quill on 15 May 1938, almost 24 months after the initial order. The final cost of the first 310 aircraft, after delays and increased programme costs, came to £1,870,242 or £1,533 more per aircraft than originally estimated. A production aircraft cost about £9,500. The most expensive components were the hand-fabricated and finished fuselage at roughly £2,500, then"
"was an RAF pilot operating from Burma at the end of the war, reported that no such burying took place. In 2016 it was reported that the hunt was continuing. British company Historic Flying Limited has either restored or built from scratch a significant proportion of the Spitfires that are now airworthy. Several other manufacturers have produced replica Spitfires, either as complete aircraft or as kits for self-building. These range in scale from 60% scale to full-size, and most use wooden construction rather than the original all-metal monocoque design. These include the Jurca Spit from France, and those manufactured by"
"Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by the Supermarine Spitfire's role during Battle of Britain in 1940, but the Hurricane actually inflicted 60 percent of the losses sustained by the Luftwaffe in the engagement, and it went on to fight in all the major theatres of the Second World War. The Hurricane originated from discussions during the early 1930s between RAF officials and British aircraft designer Sir"
"without a deterioration somewhere else. When the last Spitfire rolled out in February 1948, a total of 20,351 examples of all variants had been built, including two-seat trainers, with some Spitfires remaining in service well into the 1950s. The Spitfire was the only British fighter aircraft to be in continuous production before, during, and after the Second World War. In the mid-1930s, aviation design teams worldwide began developing a new generation fighter aircraft. The French Dewoitine D.520 and the German Messerschmitt Bf 109, for example, were designed to take advantage of new techniques of monocoque construction, and the availability of"
"before fully engaging the Luftwaffe's ""Jagdwaffe"". From surviving records it would appear that the most successful individual Spitfire was ""EN398"", a Mk IX fitted with a Merlin 63. This aircraft was built at Chattis Hill, a Shadow factory run by Supermarine, making its first flight on 13 February 1943. Five days later ""EN398"" was delivered to No. 402 Squadron RCAF which was part of the Kenley Wing. On 16 March Acting Wing Commander ""Johnnie"" Johnson arrived to take command of the four Canadian units based at Kenley. ""EN398"" was still undergoing acceptance tests in a hangar: I found the engineer"
"supply chain were switched to produce parts for the Supermarine Spitfire. Recognised as an important part of the British war effort, it was bombed on a number of occasions by the German Luftwaffe, the first in September 1940. In the later years of the war, the site was used to assemble the Spitfire. After Cunliffe-Owen was placed in receivership in 1947, the factory was bought in 1949 by Briggs Motor Bodies, who supplied Ford of Britain with bodies for their vehicles. In 1953 Ford acquired Briggs, and hence gained control of the Southampton plant. The factory now specialised in building"
"roll off the Woolston, Southampton assembly line until mid-1938. In February 1936, the director of Vickers-Armstrong, Sir Robert MacLean, guaranteed production of five aircraft a week, beginning 15 months after an order was placed. On 3 June 1936, the Air Ministry placed an order for 310 aircraft, at a cost of £1,395,000. Full-scale production of the Spitfire began at Supermarine's facility in Woolston, but order clearly could not be completed in the 15 months promised. Supermarine was a small company, already busy building Walrus and Stranraer flying boats, and Vickers was busy building Wellington bombers. The initial solution was to"
"in the Battle of Britain. The wisdom of the shadow factory scheme was demonstrated in September 1940, when the Supermarine factory in Southampton was bombed, and production there temporarily stopped. CBAF went on to become the largest and most successful plant of its type during the 1939–45 conflict. As the largest Spitfire factory in the UK, by producing a maximum of 320 aircraft per month, it built over half of the approximately 20,000 aircraft of this type. By the time production ended at Castle Bromwich in June 1945, a total of 12,129 Spitfires (921 Mk IIs, 4,489 Mk Vs, 5,665"
"to the Air Ministry on landing. Edwardes-Jones' report was positive; his only request was that the Spitfire be equipped with an undercarriage position indicator. A week later, on 3 June 1936, the Air Ministry placed an order for 310 Spitfires, before the A&AEE had issued any formal report. Interim reports were later issued on a piecemeal basis. The British public first saw the Spitfire at the RAF Hendon air display on Saturday 27 June 1936. Although full-scale production was supposed to begin immediately, numerous problems could not be overcome for some time, and the first production Spitfire, ""K9787"", did not"
"Triumph Spitfire The Triumph Spitfire is a small British two-seat sports car, introduced at the London Motor Show in 1962. The vehicle was based on a design produced for Standard-Triumph in 1957 by Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti. The platform for the car was largely based upon the chassis, engine, and running gear of the Triumph Herald saloon, but shortened and minus the Herald's outrigger sections, and was manufactured at the Standard-Triumph works at Canley, in Coventry. Unusually for cars of this era, the bodywork was fitted onto a separate structural chassis, but for the Spitfire, which was designed as an"
"1,054 Mk XVIs) had been built. CBAF went on to become the largest and most successful plant of its type during the 1939–45 conflict. As the largest Spitfire factory in the UK, by producing a maximum of 320 aircraft per month, it built 12,000 aircraft of this type, before its closure in 1945. During the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe made concerted efforts to destroy the main manufacturing plants at Woolston and Itchen, near Southampton. The first bombing raid, which missed the factories, came on 23 August 1940. Over the next month, other raids were mounted until, on 26 September"
"beyond. The many changes were made in order to fulfill Royal Air Force requirements and to successfully engage in combat with ever-improving enemy aircraft. With the death of the original designer, Reginald J. Mitchell, in June 1937, all variants of the Spitfire were designed by his replacement, Joseph Smith, and a team of engineers and draftsmen. These articles present a brief history of the Spitfire through all of its variants, including many of the defining characteristics of each sub-type. This particular article deals only with Spitfire variants powered by early model Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, which mostly utilised single-speed, single-stage superchargers."
"was that the local Birmingham skills-base and production techniques used in the manufacture of motor vehicles could be transferred to aircraft production. CBAF ordered the most modern machine tools then available which were being installed two months after work started on the site. Although Morris Motors under Lord Nuffield (an expert in mass motor-vehicle construction) managed and equipped the factory, it was funded by government money. When the project was first mooted, it was estimated that the factory would be built for £2,000,000, however, by the beginning of 1939, this cost had doubled to over £4,000,000. The Spitfire's stressed-skin construction"
"believed to have been finished using paint left over from the original machine. Quill unveiled the replica to the public in April 1993 at the RAF Museum, Hendon. Following a period of long-term loan to the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum, the Spitfire Society permanently donated it to the museum in April 2013. Clive du Cros, owner of the Swindon-based Viking Taxis and manager of Viking Wood Products, built a flying replica Spitfire from wood in 1984. Power is provided by a modified Jaguar V-12 engine delivering via a 2.77:1 reduction gearbox to its constant-speed propeller. Registered G-BRDV, the replica is"
"first Spitfire. On 17 May, Minister of Aircraft Production Lord Beaverbrook telephoned Lord Nuffield and manoeuvred him into handing over control of the Castle Bromwich plant to his ministry. Beaverbrook immediately sent in experienced management staff and workers from Supermarine and gave control of the factory to Vickers-Armstrong. Although resolving the problems took time, in June 1940, 10 Mk IIs were built; 23 rolled out in July, 37 in August, and 56 in September. By the time production ended at Castle Bromwich in June 1945, a total of 12,129 Spitfires (921 Mk IIs, 4,489 Mk Vs, 5,665 Mk IXs, and"
"in 1938 and remained in production throughout the war. The empty weight of the Battle of Britain-era Spitfire IIA was 2,142 kg (4,723 lb), increasing to 2,984 kg (6,578 lb) in a later variant. It was highly maneuverable and was generally a match for its German opponents. Most Spitfires had a Rolls Royce Merlin engine, but later variants used one of the most powerful engines of the war – the Rolls Royce Griffon. The Spitfire was produced and improved throughout the war but was complex to build and had limited range. In other respects it was considered an outstanding fighter."
"cylinder heads for the 5100. This has removed the overheating problems and also allowed the nose cowling of the Mk26 to be reshaped to remove the air intake and considerably reduce the frontal area to be in keeping with the original sleek design of the Spitfire. Construction of the Spitfire requires metalworking skills and tools and makes extensive use of aviation grade pull rivets or pop rivets. Pre-assembled kits are provided but still leave the builder with 1,200 man-hours of work to be completed. Over 92 Spitfires have now been sold around the world. After a fatal accident at Gympie,"
"Spitfires were built in a number of ""Shadow Factories""; by the end of the war there were ten main factories and several smaller workshops which built many of the components. A fuller explanation can be found in Supermarine Spitfire. The main Castle Bromwich factory was also aided by a smaller number of the shadow factories. The breakdown of production figures is taken from ""Air International 1985, p. 187."" Information as to when the first production aircraft emerged is from the serial number lists provided in ""Morgan and Shacklady 2000"". Because the first of the Mk IXs were converted from Mk"
"Rolls-Royce Merlin The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British liquid-cooled V-12 piston aero engine of 27-litres (1,650 cu in) capacity. Rolls-Royce designed the engine and first ran it in 1933 as a private venture. Initially known as the PV-12, it was later called ""Merlin"" following the company convention of naming its piston aero engines after birds of prey. After several modifications, the first production variants of the PV-12 were completed in 1936. The first operational aircraft to enter service using the Merlin were the Fairey Battle, Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire. The Merlin remains most closely associated with the Spitfire and"
"R. J. Mitchell Reginald Joseph Mitchell CBE, FRAeS, (20 May 1895 – 11 June 1937) was an English aeronautical engineer who worked for Supermarine Aviation. Between 1920 and 1936 he designed many aircraft. He is best remembered for his racing seaplanes, which culminated in the Supermarine S.6B, and the iconic Second World War fighter, the Supermarine Spitfire. R.J. Mitchell was born at 115 Congleton Road, Butt Lane, Kidsgrove, Staffordshire, England. After leaving Hanley High School, a co-educational grammar school in Stoke-on-Trent, at the age of 16, he gained an apprenticeship at Kerr Stuart & Co. of Fenton, a locomotive engineering"
"sub-contracted out to other firms, which led to chaos with drawings and the delivery of parts. To compound the problem skilled sheet-metal workers were in short supply. Supermarine had contracted to deliver the first Spitfire in September 1937, but by early 1938 a single plane had still not left the factory. Upon receipt of the order Supermarine commenced fitting out its Woolston Works for production of the new fighter. With the orders for the Spitfire as well as for the Stranraer and Walrus the company a new factory to the designs of the noted 1930's modernist architect, Oliver Percy Bernard"
"defensive fighters over attacking bombers, immediately cancelled all Castle Bromwich contracted bombers, which at that point included the Handley-Page Halifax and the Vickers Wellington. He then sent in experienced management staff and workers from Supermarine, and gave over control of the factory to Vickers-Armstrong (Supermarine's parent company). Although it would take some time to resolve the problems, CBAF achieved full production in June 1940, when 10 Spitfire Mk IIs were built; 23 in July; 37 in August; and 56 in September. No. 611 Squadron at RAF Digby the first squadron to receive the Mk II in August 1940, notably late"
"taking stock of their new acquisition, found Michelotti's prototype hiding under a dust sheet in a corner of the factory and rapidly approved it for production. The Spitfire was named to honour the World War II fighter plane of the same name. The production car changed little from the prototype, although the full-width rear bumper was dropped in favour of two part-bumpers curving around each corner, with overriders. The mechanicals were basically from a stock Herald with the notable addition of front disc brakes. The engine was an four-cylinder with a pushrod OHV cylinder head and two valves per cylinder,"
"Joseph Smith (aircraft designer) Joseph (""Joe"") Smith CBE (25 May 1897 – 20 February 1956) was an English aircraft designer who took over as Chief Designer for Supermarine upon the death of R. J. Mitchell and led the team responsible for the subsequent development of the Supermarine Spitfire. Joseph Smith was educated at the Yardley Secondary School and Birmingham Municipal Technical School. After leaving school he gained an apprenticeship with the Austin Motor Company at Longbridge, Birmingham in 1914. Following the outbreak of World War I he joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) in 1914 and served on motor"
"the French railway system, which gains safety in a tunnel. The Spitfire was a central part of the 1969 Guy Hamilton-directed film ""Battle of Britain"", a fictionalized account of the real Battle of Britain that one critic called ""the definitive depiction of war in the air"". The film led to an increase in the popularity of the aircraft among collectors of warbirds. According to one property dealer the appearance ""did for Spitfires what the James Bond films did for the Aston Martin."" Producers secured 35 Spitfires for use in the film. A Spitfire Mk. IXc (MH434/G-ASJV) depicted an aerial reconnaissance"
"by a Mk VII "" 'Strato Spitfire' "" of 602 Squadron at over the British Home Fleet's base at Scapa Flow in early 1944. The Mk VIII was an adaptation of the Mk VII without the pressurised cabin and was intended to become the main production model of the Spitfire. When the ""interim"" Mk IX proved itself to be adequate for the RAF it was decided to use the shadow factory at Castle Bromwich to produce that version only: the Mk VIII Spitfires were all built by Supermarine. Apart from the lack of pressurisation, the Mk VIII differed little from"